At(t)ic At(t)ac(k)

Kickstarting

I were (and am) really excited about the Kickstarter project for a new and fresh and modern version of the famous Sinclair ZX Spectrum that started in May, 2017. I am backer no. 1162. My „reward“ is the „The ZX Spectrum Next Plus“ which means a full Sinclair ZX Spectrum Next system including fancy stuff like the new designed casing (done by Rick Dickinson himself!) etc.

Due to the fact that I knew that it will last until sometime 2018 until I can put my hands on the new computer I decided to climb up onto my attic. Fetching my own original Sinclair ZX Spectrum setup and trying to get it back to life seems to be a nice method of passing enough time until the Next appears.

Upstairs

So this is what I found up there – I’m not sure, but it might be 25 years since it saw daylight.

  • Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K Issue 2 (upgraded from 16K with the official Sinclair 32K RAM upgrade kit) in original case.
  • Sinclair ZX Spectrum Expansion System (ZX Microdrive, ZX Interface 1, Microdrive Cartridges with software)
  • Sinclair ZX Interface 2
  • Sinclair ZX Spectrum+ Upgrade Kit (ZX Spectrum + keyboard/casing kit)
  • Timex/Sinclair 2040 Personal Printer
  • dk’tronics Keyboard Type 1
  • dk’tronics Dual Port Joystick Interface
  • Romantic Robots Multiface One
  • Two mono audio tape recorder (TEC and Elite)
  • Some Microdrive Cartridges and a bunch of original software tapes.

Oh dear, some of that stuff doesn’t look really good (especially the software tape side of things…). And the smell of some stuff isn’t that nice as well. 🙂 Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to store most of my ZX Spectrum equipment in my father’s house the moisture ridden cellar for some of the last 25 years…

Let the journey begin…

Related Links

ZX Spectrum Next Kickstarter campaign [V1]
Sinclair ZX Spectrum
Rick Dickinson